Known from “Harry Potter”: Dumbledore actor Michael Gambon is dead

British-Irish actor Michael Gambon is dead. He died in hospital on Thursday at the age of 82 after suffering from pneumonia, according to a statement from his family. Gambon became known to a wide audience primarily through his role as the wise Professor Albus Dumbledore in the “Harry Potter” film series.

Born in Dublin on October 19, 1940, Gambon began his acting career on stage in the early 1960s and later moved into television and film. His notable film roles include a psychotic mafia leader in Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) and the elderly King George V in Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech (2010). He also appeared in Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow” and “Gosford Park” by Robert Altman.

However, his best-known role was that of Dumbledore, the head of the Hogwarts magic school, in the “Harry Potter” films, which he took on from the third part of the eight-film series. At that time he replaced Richard Harris, who died in 2002.

During his career spanning around 50 years, Gambon, who was particularly inspired by James Dean and Marlon Brando in his early years, as he once said in an interview, worked in film, television, radio and theater. He has won a Bafta, the television award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, four times.

Next on the screen

The actor retired from the stage in 2015 after suffering from memory problems, but continued acting on screen until 2019. In an interview in the early 2000s, he once said that his work made him feel “like the luckiest man in the world.”

Gambon died peacefully in the hospital, the family said in a statement. His wife Anne and son Fergus were at his side.